Prepare Like an Olympian for the Challenges of the Business World
By Nikki Stone
Author of When Turtles Fly: Secrets
of Successful People Who Know How To Stick Their Necks Out

How does an Olympian prepare mentally
for a once-in-a-lifetime event that can literally be over in seconds,
but its results will last for the rest of his or her life?
Surprisingly, in a very similar way as businessmen and women prepare
for big projects.

Because of my background as the first
American Olympic gold medal aerial skier, motivational speaker and
author of a much-talked-about inspirational book, I was honored when
the U.S. Olympic Committee engaged me to help train the current and
upcoming athletes.

So what are the secrets of
Olympic-caliber preparations? In highlighting a few of the most
intense obstacles presented to the athletes at an Olympic Games,
you'll see that my recommendations for coping with their issues can
easily be paralleled in the business world.

OLYMPIC CHALLENGES

BUSINESS CHALLENGES

NIKKI'S
COMBATIVE

TOOLS

Fear of failing to make the Olympic podium or even winning
the Games

Fear of failing to land a job/promotion or being able to
take on a leadership position

Ask yourself, "If I knew I couldn't fail, what would I try?"
After you answer this question, ask yourself why it would be so
awful to fail at the task or activity. We learn much more from our
failures than we learn from our accomplishments.

Focusing too much on the Olympic medal, extensive media, or
hometown parades

Focusing too much on the praise you'll get from colleagues
or higher ups and forgetting the elements that help get you there

We need to learn to live in the moment and concentrate on
what we have control over. And that's the process, not the end
results. For example, we can't control someone else's impression of our
work; we can only control what we produce.

No accountability! Not claiming your goal of winning an
Olympic medal or taking the blame when you don't

No accountability! Not claiming your goal of winning an
account/producing the company's best results or taking the blame when
you don't

Most successful individuals will take credit for the good
AND bad results. Write the challenge down on an index card and tape
it to the wall to remind yourself of your goal. This commitment will
make you accountable to your goals and responsible for your actions.
Read your index card and/or check in with your friend weekly to keep
yourself on track. If you aren't willing to put a goal in writing, you
probably aren't really committed to achieving it.

Intense pressure of personal/family's/country's
expectations, extensive media hounding you, and thoughts of what you
could lose out on all bottled in a one-time shot for the next four years

Intense pressure of personal/company /clients'
expectations, company consequences, and deadlines

The best way to deal with the stress, pressure and anxiety is
to build your confidence. Start journaling to recognize what
you do well and what you can improve. Each day, write down one thing
you did well that day and one thing you could improve on. It's often
easy to see the achievements and improvements others make, but we have
to take the time to recognize that regardless of what we are going
through, we can change, too. Build your confidence by getting to know
and appreciate yourself.

No one can control unexpected incidents, but you can control
how you prepare for their possibility. Pick a project or activity you
are working on and come up with three alternate plans in case
something goes wrong. As with fire drills in grade school, it helps to
plan several escape routes in case of an emergency. Expect the
unexpected and you will never be thrown too far off course.

There are so many distractions in life and if we don't build a
hard shell to defend against their enticements, we'll be sucked into
mediocrity. Whether it's the hype of Opening Ceremonies, meeting Wayne
Gretzky in the Olympic Village, a bad flu, oran impending
deadline,we all have to block out external factors. Keeping
your
goal
fresh
in
your mind will allow you to clear the clutter of
all your distractions. Remember what's most important and make sure
that this factor is driving all of your actions.

So if you want to
be as competitive as the Apolo Anton Ohnos, Bode Millers, Lindsey
Vonns and Shaun Whites of the world, get in the game and start your
"training" now. Using a list of gold-medal-caliber tools to
overcome your own adversities or challenges, you too may be ready to
withstand the pressures of a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Author Bio
At the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, Nikki Stone
became America's first-ever Olympic champion in the sport of aerial
skiing. What made this performance so unbelievable was the fact that,
less than two years earlier, a chronic spinal injury prevented her from
standing, much less walking or skiing off a twelve-foot-tall snow jump
that launches aerialists fifty feet into the air. She overcame the
injury and went on to earn 35 World Cup medals, 11 World Cup titles, 4
national titles, 3 World Cup titles, a World Championship title, and
membership in the Ski Hall of Fame. Nikki is also a magna cum laude
graduate of Union College and a summa cum laude masters graduate of the
University of Utah. Her aerial retirement is less than restful as she
trains Olympic athletes and business professionals in speaking/media
skills, coaches personal and professional development courses, hosts
group skiing adventures, sits on five different charitable committees,
and writes articles and columns for many magazines, newspapers, and
websites. Nikki's career focus is now on traveling around the world
working as a sought-after motivational speaker, sharing her secrets to
success by inspiring her business audiences to "Stick their necks out."
Every spare moment is spent with husband, Michael Spencer, and
daughter, Zali, in Park City, Utah.